Tillman strong early, Alvarez homers to give O's the lead (O's lose in 13)

HOUSTON - If you were looking for a lot of runs early in this game, you are probably disappointed so far. Both pitchers came in throwing well and have continued that in the early innings in the series opener.

The Orioles and Astros played scoreless ball over the first four frames tonight. But Pedro Alvarez led off the O's fifth with a line drive homer to right for the 1-0 lead through four and a half innings. He hit a 2-2 pitch for his third homer and didn't miss a hanging curve ball.

Chris Tillman retired the first nine batters on just 28 pitches in the first three innings. He allowed a leadoff single to George Springer in the fourth. Springer advanced to second on a wild pitch. But with that runner in scoring position, Tillman retired Jose Altuve, Carlos Correa and Colby Rasmus to keep this a 0-0 game.

Houston's Doug Fister pitched out of a bases loaded jam in the second and seemed to use that momentum to roll through the third and fourth innings facing the minimum six batters.

The Orioles drew a pair of walks and Jonathan Schoop singled to load the bases in the second for Ryan Flaherty. But he was called out looking at a third strike and the O's left them loaded. The first inning ended on an Adam Jones double play ball, his ninth of the season. Jones is 0-for-2 tonight and with just two hits his last 25 at-bats.

While Fister needed 47 pitches to get the first six outs, he he threw just 17 to get the next six.

The Orioles are trying to get their bats going. They scored nine runs Friday night at Anaheim but just five over the next two games and one so far tonight.

Update: Houston first baseman Luis Valbuena hit a long two-run homer to right and Houston took a 2-1 lead in the fifth. His third homer came on a 3-2 changeup that was up in the zone. Valbuena didn't miss it. Houston made some solid contact off Tillman in the fourth and fifth.

Manny Machado has tied this game 2-2 with a long homer of his own. His blast to left-center came on 3-2 pitch. He smoked an 87 mph fastball for his 13th homer and to snap a 4-for-37 stretch.

On we play: The Orioles and Houston are going to the 11th tied 2-2. Mychal Givens got a big third out in the last of the tenth as Jose Altuve lined out to first baseman Chris Davis with two on and two outs.

Tillman went seven innings tonight, allowing just three hits and two runs. There may be just one pitch he'd like to have back in the 105 he threw. He gets a no-decision and his ERA, which was 2.61 at first pitch, remains 2.61. He has now recorded seven consecutive quality starts with an ERA of 1.94 in that stretch.

The Orioles are 2-0 in extra innings games and Astros are 2-3.

One tough loss: The Orioles lost in 13 innings tonight, 3-2 to Houston in the opener of a three-game series. They fall to 26-17 with their fifth loss in eight games.

After Mychal Givens pitched 2 1/3 scoreless, Dylan Bundy came in the last of 13^th and Tony Kemp drilled a triple to deep center to start the inning. The O's then intentionally walked both George Springer and Jose Altuve to load the bases with no outs. Bundy could not escape that as Carlos Correa lined a single to center on a 1-1 pitch to give Houston the walk-off victory.

The Orioles were held to just the two solo homers tonight. They have scored just seven runs the last three games.

O's batters struck out a whopping 19 times tonight and have fanned 40 times the past three games. From the ninth inning on tonight, O's batters struck out 12 times.